On 31/01/2012 drcranky wrote:>Anyone else get the impression the new Rock Mag editor knows #$%@ all about>climbing?

What gives you that impression?
His 'editorial' seemed to me more about paying homage to the past and what he has inherited as a standard to meet.

If he knows bugger all about climbing then it would be reasonable to assume that the current edition of Rock that he presided over would reflect that, however it still maintains the standard* in my opinion.
(*Though this has varied hugely over the years!)

The thing that shat me off about the new mag is the lack of captions! The photo at the start of the Fingal Story for instance - it looks incredible, but what is it? And the shot of Marc Edwards in Kalbarri - If you can't tell who it is and where then whats it doing in the photo section? And it continues right through......

It's only an impression and if others feel differently then I'm happy to concede.

First up, the cover gives it away. Granite in the Blue Mountains? Well they ain't talking about Tarana. The mistake is again made in the editorial.

In the editorial he writes about the voice of community, which is very important, and the Rock editor is an important voice. Ross and Chris would use their extensive knowledge of the Australian climbing scene and their own personal insights and anecdotes to great effect. The new ed seems to just summarise what you are about to read. He doesn't write poorly, I just get the feeling I wasn't connecting with a fellow climber.

Prime Creative Media also publishes BeanScene, Trailer, WhichSchool and Prime Mover Magazine. If having a larger corporate backing helps ensure the continuation of the mag then great. But "the community" must be respected by having an editor that gets 'it'.

If I am wrong then I apologise. I'm certainly still going to continue my subscription.

On 1/02/2012 drcranky wrote:>Chris Baxter's Ghost indeed!>>It's only an impression and if others feel differently then I'm happy>to concede. >>First up, the cover gives it away. Granite in the Blue Mountains? Well>they ain't talking about Tarana. The mistake is again made in the editorial.>>In the editorial he writes about the voice of community, which is very>important, and the Rock editor is an important voice. Ross and Chris would>use their extensive knowledge of the Australian climbing scene and their>own personal insights and anecdotes to great effect. The new ed seems to>just summarise what you are about to read. He doesn't write poorly, I just>get the feeling I wasn't connecting with a fellow climber. >>Prime Creative Media also publishes BeanScene, Trailer, WhichSchool and>Prime Mover Magazine. If having a larger corporate backing helps ensure>the continuation of the mag then great. But "the community" must be respected>by having an editor that gets 'it'.>>If I am wrong then I apologise. I'm certainly still going to continue>my subscription. >>>

The same thoughts occurred to me as did the drop in sub-editing quality - poor punctuation and typos ("saviour the position"??).

I'm still trying to fathom "callous free climbers" - do they lack blisters or empathy?

On 1/02/2012 One Day Hero wrote:>Is it a pride thing that the editorial must be written by the editor? Cause>a non-climber writing in a climbing magazine seems very stupid to me. >>What's in the job description for an editor? If he's making decisions>on content without being able to understand the content, the magazine is>screwed.

Depends on how much interest the publisher has in the product. Usally with small print runs, the money man would make all decisions. Unlikely that a new non climbing editor would direct and choose the content.

An editor of a climbing magazine is in charge of sourcing (liaising with writers and photographers) and fact checking, so they NEED to be able to understand if what they are about to publish is actually correct. If they don't understand climbing then they could easily publish dangerous and misleading material.

On 1/02/2012 One Day Hero wrote:>How many people would show up to work in the "Rock office"? Surely if one>of them is a climber with a brain, they can veto ridiculous shit.

Probably none. You don't need to know about climbing to design, check spelling, sell advertising, do subscriptions and balance the books. I imagine the job roles above are shared amongst their whole staple of genre magazines. The editor is the only one you need that actually knows about the relevant topic. And as an editor you wouldn't be asking any of those people to proof your work - as that makes your job somewhat redundant.

On 1/02/2012 nmonteith wrote:>On 1/02/2012 One Day Hero wrote:>>How many people would show up to work in the "Rock office"? Surely if>one>>of them is a climber with a brain, they can veto ridiculous shit.>>Probably none. You don't need to know about climbing to design, check>spelling, sell advertising, do subscriptions and balance the books. I imagine>the job roles above are shared amongst their whole staple of genre magazines.>The editor is the only one you need that actually knows about the relevant>topic. And as an editor you wouldn't be asking any of those people to proof>your work - as that makes your job somewhat redundant.

Why dont you take the job? Could you be bothered? I really enjoyed yours and Simon's old mag. Bring it back! Or take over Rock before numb nuts totally F's it up.

So has Ross quit, or is he just taking a "family break".... I wasn't sure from the editorial?
I definitely agree this issue was a step down in quality, and the editor obviously wasn't a climber. He didn't even seem to know who Simon Carter was, and I would be surprised if there was a climber in Australia who hadn't heard of Simon!
Maybe there's not enough money to employ a climber to edit Rock? Perhaps it's now just a part time job for one of the subeditors of the other mags?
I suppose a lot of climber's money will be going back to those overseas climbing magazines again if it keeps going this way.